Electric Propulsion Systems

Electric propulsion systems are at the heart of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). They consist of electric motors, power converters, and electronic controllers. The electric motor converts the electric energy into mechanical energy to propel the vehicle, or vice versa, to enable regenerative braking and/or to generate electricity for charging the on-board energy storage. The power converter is used to supply the electric motor with proper voltage and current. The choice of electric propulsion systems for EVs and HEVs mainly depends on several factors, including the driver's expectation, vehicle constraints, and energy source. Electric propulsion systems are at the heart of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). They consist of electric motors, power converters, and electronic controllers. The choice of electric propulsion systems for EVs and HEVs mainly depends on several factors, including the driver's expectation, vehicle constraints, and energy source. Direct current (DC) motor drives have been widely used in applications requiring adjustable speed, good speed regulation, and frequent starting, braking, and reversing. The independence of armature voltage and field provides more flexible control of the speed and torque than other types of DC motors. Choppers are used for the control of DC motors because of their several advantages such as high efficiency, flexibility in control, light weight, small size, quick response, and regeneration down to very low speeds. The separately excited DC motors are usually used in traction due to the control flexibility of armature voltage and field.